NYC’s toughest restaurant reservation might be returning to Vegas
New York City, they say, is a tough town. And in that tough town, the toughest table to score — for decades — has been at Rao’s, the red-sauce (and red-front) Italian restaurant that has occupied the same corner building in East Harlem since 1896.
The celebrated, the connected, the powerful and other friends of the house have “table rights.” To be seated, you must possess this privilege or be the guest of someone who does. Rao’s (pronounced RAY-ohs) has only four tables and six booths. Most things described as “exclusive” are not: They are merely expensive or served with caviar.
Rao’s is exclusive.
In 2006, the restaurant launched an encampment in Caesars Palace. With 260 seats anyone could reserve, it was the opposite of exclusive. In late November 2021, during the pandemic, Rao’s closed after 15 years, an exceptional run for the Strip.
Carla Pellegrino, the well-known culinarian who has come and gone from Vegas several times over the years, was the restaurant’s first executive chef (and is the ex-wife of its co-owner, Frank Pellegrino Jr.).
Now, Rao’s meatballs and Sunday gravy are back in town for Super Bowl week. And maybe longer.
Miami first, then Vegas?
The New York Post recently reported that for five nights leading up to the Big Game, Rao’s would serve VIP invite-only guests from a pop-up at an undisclosed Strip location. For the past five years, Rao’s has presented Super Bowl pop-ups that re-create the look and feel of the New York original.
The Post also reported the restaurant would be scouting for a return location in Vegas, following the successful debut of Rao’s in Miami Beach last fall. Rao’s also has a Los Angeles outpost.
Now, if the owners of Rao’s really wanted to conjure the cachet of the Manhattan restaurant for Vegas 2.0, they would make friends with James Trees, have him suggest a few still-raffish blocks downtown, choose a tiny space, get out the red paint, ban all cellphones and influencers (who needs that in the tide pool?), hang out the meatballs (so to speak), and watch people beg for reservations.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on X.
